This course targets everyone who is interested to learn about the limitations, stresses, and opportunities for alternative cropping systems in desert environments. A variety of crops are described as potential solutions for enhancing food and feed production in degraded lands.

When an 8 000-year-old pearl was identified as the oldest ever found, it made global headlines. The natural pearl was found in 2019 during archaeological excavations at Marawah Island in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The pearl industry was once the cornerstone of the UAE’s economy, when...

Due to prolonged droughts and rising heat, an increase in soil and water salinity levels are being observed in marginal areas, rendering agricultural lands unproductive. The situation gets aggravated in desert areas where freshwater resources are extremely limited and not replenished. Saline agriculture constitutes one of the farming solutions for...

Camel breeding has been a common activity in arid countries in Africa (North Africa and Sahelian countries) and in Asia (Middle East, South, and Central Asia up to China) throughout history. Despite the marginal importance at the Implications • COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the camel sector, which is contributing to...

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) agreed to work together to develop a suite of innovative tools for bolstering the resilience of the UAE’s food system. Under a cooperative agreement signed by Dr. Tarifa Alzaabi, Acting Director General of ICBA, and Professor...

Every day since the early 1990s some 2,000 hectares of irrigated land in arid and semi-arid areas across 75 countries have been degraded by salt. Over the years not only the scale but also the range of threats to food, water and income security of vulnerable communities around the world...

Soil and water salinity are a big problem in many parts of the UAE due to intensive desalination, including in agriculture, and seawater intrusion into aquifers. So much so that some farmers prefer to abandon their salt-degraded lands as traditional crops fail. The problem poses challenges to national efforts to enhance food...

A recent study under the project ‘Municipal waste compost in UAE: Importance, feasibility and use’ by a group of scientists from the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) suggests that co-composting of sewage sludge with green waste significantly dilutes heavy metals and improves nutritional quality of the final product called ‘co-compost sludge’. This...

Quinoa, once a staple food of only the indigenous people in the Andes, has become a darling of food aficionados around the world in recent years. So popular it has grown that even some fast food restaurant chains have now dishes and salads with it on their menus. Its exceptional...

13 February 2017, Dubai/Rome - Failure to act now to make our food systems more resilient to climate change will "seriously compromise" food production in many regions and could doom to failure international efforts to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2030, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva warned today. "Agriculture...

The Khalifa International Date Palm Award was established under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. The inauguration ceremony attracted both regional and international attention to the date palm tree and the strategic future of dates as a balanced food product, and highlighted...

The  International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed University, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), with the technical contribution of the Food and Agriculture Organization of...

Smallholder farmers in the Arabian Peninsula region are severely constrained by the region’s extreme aridity, scanty water resources and erratic rainfall. Conditions have become even more challenging as over %95 of the region’s land area now faces some form of desertification from wind and water erosion, and salinization. The increasing...

The main purposes of the HSBC Water Program are to provide and protect water sources, to inform and educate communities; to enable people to prosper and to drive economic development across the world. The full HSBC Water Program objectives can be found through the link https://www.thewaterhub.org/about Under this program come Food for the Future...

Providing enough safe, nutritious food to a growing population is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. Food and agricultural sectors are central to eradicating hunger and poverty, but current farming practices and climate change are putting pressure on our natural resources. No organization alone has the ability to solve these...

The report analyses the determinants of demand on energy, water, and food in the Arab region, thgat  include socio-economic contexts, level of development, population growth, rate of urbanization, scarcity of water resources, the harsh climate conditions, and pricing policies. However, the region is truly heterogeneous in terms of socioeconomic contexts,...

The need for sustainable food consumption in Arab countries has emerged from the regional concern for food and nutrition security that requires special consideration on multiple levels and disciplines. In response to population growth and demand, the current Arab food system – characterized by intensive agricultural production as well as...

  The UAE Ministry of Environment and Water announced today (Sunday, October 25, 2015) the launch of the 13thedition of the Middle East Exhibition for Organic and Natural Products (MENOPE), taking place from November 2 to 4, 2015 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). Supported by the International...

Smallholder farmers in the Arabian Peninsula region are severely constrained by the region’s extreme aridity, scanty water resources and erratic rainfall. Conditions have become even more challenging as over 95% of the region’s land area now faces some form of desertification from wind and water erosion, and salinization. The increasing...

The RECOFI Workshop on Social and Economic Aspects of Fisheries in the RECOFI region was held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain from 22 to 24 April 2012, following the agreement at the sixth session of the Regional Commission for Fisheries held in Rome from 10 to 12 May 2011. The...